Slovenia

[khain]

It's worth learning a few phrases of Slovenian but most people speak English well.

The roads are moderately busy and there aren't many side roads in most of the country. It's still a really nice place to cycle though. It's heavily forested so there aren't always great views but often the views are stunning.

In most towns and cities there are excellent cycle paths.

[bohrsatom]

I've been home a week and just want to say this: For anybody considering cycling in Slovenia, do it. It's a fantastic country to cycle, with mountains, valleys, coast, countryside and only a few major towns and cities. The country is small enough that you can cross a mountain pass in the morning and be in Ljubljana for dinner.

In particular, if you like hills, I would recommend riding the Vrsic Pass and Soca Valley (Kranjska Gora to Nova Gorica) and the upper Solcava valley (Logarska Dolina and the Solčava panoramic road). If you don't like hills then Slovenia might not be for you .

We were dreadfully unfortunate with the weather - we had rain on most days, and a few were a complete washout - but still had a great time. I'm sure it would be even more fantastic in sunny weather.

As there was a bit of interest in this thread I'm happy to answer any questions people might have


(from the Solčava panoramic road)

[pq]

I rode in Slovenia a few years back. My route was somewhat constrained by snow on the passes though. I did have trouble finding places to stay on a few occasions, although the tour I did was part of a longer Balkans thing so I wasn't in Slovenia for that long. Write-up here: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/balkanised (I actually crossed Slovenia twice on this tour)